Layoffs at Stratos plant in Tennessee

A number of employees at the Stratos plant in Murfreesboro, Tenn., were laid off, though the exact number was not immediately available.

Stratos officials had no comment this morning, but Genmar chairman Irwin Jacobs confirmed the loss of jobs. He did not know the exact number of people affected.

“There’s a lot of movement everywhere these days,” Jacobs told Trade Only this morning. “That’s pretty much the way the story is everywhere today.”

Including Stratos, Genmar makes 13 lines of boats.

“I would say that from last fall until now, there’s been layoffs at all locations,” Jacobs said.

Despite media reports to the contrary, Jacobs said he did not expect the Stratos plant to close.

“It’s going to be an unusual year,” Jacobs said. “To me, the biggest concern that I have is protecting our dealers out there, which is very difficult to do today because of the secondary product that’s becoming available through repossessions, dealer failures or factory failures.”

“We’ve got to get through that period, and I think this spring we’ll be able to clean that out for the most part and hopefully be able to get back to some normality,” he added.

Stratos, founded in 1984, builds 16 models of freshwater fishing boats, according to its Web site. The site also says the company has 300 employees.